Psalm 23 is a familiar passage. Perhaps familiarity breeds not contempt so much as it encourages turning on the automatic pilot when reading or hearing it.

O yes, I know this passage well,

we who are immersed in scripture might say to ourselves before we stop paying attention. But how well do we really know the text?

Psalm 23 might have originated during the Babylonian Exile or afterward. Imagine, O reader, Judean exiles pondering their foreign environs and hoping for a return to their ancestral homeland, of which they have only heard. Or imagine exiles who have returned coming to terms with the fact that realities of life in that homeland fall short of fond hopes and prophetic promises.

Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me

all the days of my life

–Psalm 23:6a, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)

takes on a certain meaning then. The enemies do not pursue; not “goodness and steadfast love” do–or will. That is a timeless hope.

The themes of judgment, mercy, exile, and return run through these days’ readings. Exile comes, persists for decades, and ends. Restoration (by God, via human agents thereof) follows. God expects us to live in ways that glorify Him, but we fall sort of that standard often. Furthermore, obeying God in this life does not guarantee a peaceful, safe, and prosperous life. Neither does disobeying God in this life guarantee the opposite result. Yet there is the question of the afterlife. Furthermore, for the divine order to come into its own, God must destroy its sinful, human predecessor.

Frequently good news for the oppressed constitutes catastrophic news for their oppressors who, ironically, hurt themselves by engaging in the work of oppression. Thus oppression creates both victims and oppressors, but only only victims. We humans are often the victims of our own bad decisions, thus we are frequently simultaneously victims and oppressors. This need not be the case, for we can, by grace, walk the path of righteousness more often than not. Enemies might still pursue us, as they did Jesus, but so will divine goodness and steadfast love.

The journey toward Christ the King Sunday (evident in the selection of the Psalm) continues. The sovereignty of God is a major theme in Ezekiel 28, where we read announcements that the prideful King of Tyre will die and that the hostile countries around Judah will fall. The restoration of Judah will follow, thus people will know that Yahweh is the God of the Hebrews.

Death is a punishment in Ezekiel 28 and the penalty for St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr and one of the first Christian deacons. In Acts 7-8, where we read of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the accusation was blasphemy, although anger and defensiveness were the actual causes. Whatever those who executed the saint thought regarding theology, their violence in the name of God belied their protests of righteousness. St. Stephen was forgiving, however. One will know a tree by its fruits.

Death is the last enemy to face defeat in 1 Corinthians 15. The agent of victory over death is the crucified and resurrected Christ. As verses 17-19 say,

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

The Pauline case continues the assertion that God has put everything under subjection to Christ, in God.

The theme of Christ the King Sunday is that, despite appearances to the contrary, God is in charge. Pope Pius XI created the feast in the 1920s, when dictators dominated Europe and fascism was on the rise. The message of Christ the King Sunday remains relevant today, for human nature and divine faithfulness are constants. The Kingdom of God has been present among us for a long time, for it was “at hand” nearly 2000 years ago, when Jesus of Nazareth walked the face of the Earth. Alas, the Kingdom of God has not become fully realized, for it is simultaneously present and en route. Human cruelty constitutes evidence of the partial realization of the Kingdom of God, so we hope and pray for the completion of the promise.

O God, with all your faithful followers in every age, we praise you, the rock of our life.

Be our strong foundation and form us into the body of your Son,

that we may gladly minister to all the world,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 45

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The Assigned Readings:

Ezekiel 28:11-19 (Thursday)

Ezekiel 31:15-18 (Friday)

Psalm 138 (Both Days)

1 Corinthians 6:1-11 (Thursday)

2 Corinthians 10:12-18 (Friday)

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The LORD is high, yet the LORD cares for the lowly

and perceives the haughty from afar.

–Psalm 138:6, Book of Common Worship (1993)

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The assigned readings for these two days focus on the question of how we should treat others as opposed to how we behave toward them much of the time. Exploitation comes in more than one form; economic, judicial, and sexual varieties of such bad behavior come to mind immediately. That which builds one up at the expense of others–by taking from them wrongly or denying them what they should have–is immoral. Yet many people already wealthy pile up more riches by taking from those who have less or by denying others that which they ought to have–sufficient means–by right. Yes, I am writing about greed, a predatory force.

The essence of compassion is to dethrone oneself from the center of one’s life or never to place oneself there. Selfishness (of which greed is a symptom) can result from a variety of issues, including two related to the ego. One is pride–hubris, to be precise. Taking pride in one’s work is positive, for it contributes to better work. Yet hubris goes before the fall. This is a phenomenon of the ego run amok. I have known this temptation and yielded to it in the realm of intellectual arrogance. The causes were understandable, given the circumstances, but that fact did not–and still does not–constitute an excuse or justification. I continue to struggle with intellectual arrogance at times, but at least I know about the problem and recognize it as such. I am imperfect, but I have made progress, by grace. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the inferiority complex. People with this problem who do not deal with it constructively lead self-centered lives dedicated to making themselves feel better about themselves. (I have one person, who will remain unnamed in this post, in mind.) In cases of both extremes the offenders injure themselves and others, for what one person does affects others. That is the way of the universe.

To have a balanced ego is the better course. And following the advice of St. Paul the Apostle to boast only of the Lord is a spiritually healthy path to take in life. The desire to do these things is a good start, one possible only by grace. This desire might constitute our proverbial few loaves of bread and fishes, and therefore seem woefully inadequate for the task. It is inadequate for the task, of course, but God can multiply it. This is not about what we do. No, it is about what God does. Our task is to cooperate with God–to be the faithful ministers of grace God calls us to be. May we, by grace, serve effectively, thereby glorifying God and helping others–building them up as God leads us to do.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 16, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY MAGDALEN POSTEL, FOUNDER OF THE POOR DAUGHTERS OF MERCY

The power and mercy of God can be frightening, for they challenge us to examine ourselves spiritually. They make abundantly clear the reality that we, most especially in the light of God, are wanting. We could admit this fact, embrace it, and welcome God’s act of reshaping us—or we could resist in stiff-necked fashion.

The reading for today are generally gloomy. The Psalm is affirmative, but the lections from Matthew and Jeremiah are darker. The Matthew lesson exists in a textual context of conflict. St. John the Baptist is imprisoned and about to die; can Jesus be far behind? A few verses later our Lord and Savior plucks grain and heals a man with a withered hand. Critics note that he does this on the Sabbath. Is Jesus supposed to have gone hungry and to have forgone committing a good deed? Later opponents accuse him of being in league with Satan. Our Lord and Savior’s healings were acts of power and mercy. Yet I read shortly after today’s Matthew lection that some people criticized him for committing such a powerful and merciful act on the Sabbath.

These are the kinds of negative responses to which Matthew 11:20 and 21 refer. The references to Tyre and Sidon reach back to Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27-28, where one reads condemnations of those wicked cities. And Jesus’ adopted hometown, Capernaum, is among the places where he experienced rejection. But, we read, even evil Tyre and Sidon will fare better on the day of judgment than will Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.

He came to his own, and his own people would not accept him.

–John 1:11, The Revised English Bible (1989)

Why do we reject the love of God, which we see manifested around us via a variety of channels? And why do we quibble about when this love pours out generously, albeit inconvenient for us due to a fault within us? There are several reasons, but I choose to focus on one here: our preference for the status quo ante. We tend to prefer the predictable, so certain prompts prove to be threatening, not merely annoying. To acknowledge intellectually that God does not fit into our preferred theological box is one thing, but to experience that fact is another. And admitting error might call our identity into question. Furthermore, for those for whom religion is about certainty, one of the more popular idols, the element of uncertainty is profoundly disturbing.

May we—you and I, O reader—embrace the active love of God, permit it to reshape us, and not find such uncertainty disturbing. No, may we reject certainty in convenient lies and possess faith—active and living faith evident in attitudes, words, and deeds—in God, who refuses to fit into any theological box.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 24, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF IDA SCUDDER, REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA MEDICAL MISSIONARY IN INDIA

THE FEAST OF EDWARD KENNEDY “DUKE” ELLINGTON, COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JACKSON KEMPER, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF WISCONSIN

THE FEAST OF MOTHER EDITH, FOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE SACRED NAME